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02 March, 2012

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite writers and artists, Ted Geisel aka Dr. Seuss. My love affair with Dr. Seuss began at a very early age. I fell in love the strange creatures and whimsical places that populated his books. The rhymes twisted my tongue and I loved his made up words that meant anything and everything. As I grew older, my appreciation for Dr. Seuss grew, especially with stories like The Lorax which tackled social and political issues in an accessible way.

When I was deciding on what college to go to, I admit that one of the factors that went into the decision to go to UC San Diego was that it had a library named after Ted Geisel. I figured that it must be a good place to go if Dr. Seuss gave it his stamp of approval.

ted geisel library at ucsd - pretty cool looking

Over the years, his books and art have inspired the creation of films, a musical, stamps and even fabric! But my love always goes back to the books, those wonderful little tomes that are often short but contain so much imagination within them. He's inspired countless other artists and his work is still relevant today.

Some of my favorite Dr. Seuss books are:

To celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday, Random House and National Education Association are encouraging people to read to a child and participate in Read Across America. What better way to celebrate the life of Dr. Seuss than to impart the love of reading on a child? I read to a child yesterday so I am going to count that, as I don't know have any other children to read to and it would be awkward picking one out on the street to do so. :)

If you're in the L.A. area, one of our favorite galleries is holding a reception for the opening night of Look At This, Look At That: A Tribute to Dr. Seuss. Come by and see original art inspired by Dr. Seuss and stop by Pho 79 for tasty Vietnamese food across the street afterwards.

The Lorax also opens this weekend. I have mixed feeling about the films made lately based on Dr. Seuss books, but this is one of my favorite stories and it doesn't look too bad. I will probably try to catch it this weekend. Here's the trailer to entice you.

So are you a fan of Dr. Seuss? What's your favorite Dr. Seuss book? Did his books play prominently into your childhood as it did mine? We'd love to hear your stories.